


Saguaro

by Mysticmataki



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Western, Cowboys & Cowgirls, Western
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 10:15:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18207038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysticmataki/pseuds/Mysticmataki
Summary: V x MC Western AU.A mysterious man wakes up in a cabin far from the the nearest town with a raging head ache and a foggy memory of what he is doing far out in the uninhabited desert. Who has taken him in? And what does this mean for the two strangers brought together by fate?ON HIATUS.





	1. Chapter 1

Bach. Someone was playing the violin, Bach’s “Partita No. 2 but the sound seemed far away, slightly out of reach.

“Mother…?”

Slowly stirring, a teal haired man eventually opened his eyes and squinted as he looked around the dark room. The curtains were drawn, not enough to block out the sun entirely, yet it was hard to look around the room, his eyes taking considerably longer than usual to adjust to his surroundings. He immediately didn’t recognize where he was, but that didn’t surprise him- he hadn’t had a stable home in months. Sitting up, he winced as a sharp pain seared throughout his head before disappearing just as quickly.

 

His mother definitely wasn’t there, and he realized that aside from the violin the cabin was completely silent. He stood up and slowly made his way out of the room when he realized he was in a 2 room cabin, now finding himself in a larger room that had the kitchen along with a reading area set up. In that space there were easels set up, and canvases with reds of all shades, purples, yellows, the oranges and pinks of the sunset, each different but both looking equally new. He stumbled a bit backwards as he was brought back to reality by a swell in the violin in the background.

“Hello?” He asked a little nervously as he looked around the room to see if anyone was there. Realizing that there wasn’t anyone else, he opened the door and stepped out to hear the most beautiful song and turned to see a vision before him.

His vision was definitely much more out of focus as he everything was blurrier than before. He quickly realized though that a woman was turning towards him and had lowered her violin before quickly rushing over to him, placing it gently on the chair on the porch.

“You shouldn’t be moving! I’m sorry I️ didn’t realize you were awake, let’s get you back to bed, or at least the sofa,” she quickly said as she wrapped an arm around his back to keep him steady and led him back into the cabin. While he had been able to tell she was wearing a blue shirt, brown skirt, and had long brown hair, seeing her up close left quite an impression on him.

The shirt was an old denim button up, primarily used by ranchers or those in the mines along with a brown skirt, simple yet customary. Her hair really was long, down to her mid back and left loose, but before he could get a straight look at her face she had laid him on the sofa. Quickly propping him up with a cushion before rushing over to her kitchen, he couldn’t help but smile softly. By the time she came back he finally could see her as clear as was usual, which wasn’t exactly 20-20 for him, and he was able to take in her soft features, concern across her face as she placed a cool cloth on his head and gave him some water.

“How’s your head feeling?” She asked as she brushed back his bangs and slowly started to undo the bandage there, pulling out another cloth and dipping that in the water before she started to dab away at the dried blood that had clotted over the cut on the side of his head.

He pulled back a bit, surprised at the ease in which this woman was taking care of him, no questions asked about anything but his health. He wryly smiled as he closed his eyes, “Much more painful than usual.”

The woman smirked, “Well, I would be more concerned if it didn’t. I’m talking about specific pains, anything that might be off at all.”

She sat back and looked at him as he looked down at his hands slowly, clenching them into fists before he looked up and shook his head, “There’s just a sharp headache, but not that much beyond a migraine.” He wasn’t going to tell her about his eyes- this total stranger who was already caring for him.

Her eyebrow rose before she shrugged and nodded as she started to apply an antiseptic to the cut. “Well, please let me know if you have any other symptoms, like dizziness or worsened eyesight,” she instructed, causing him to pause for a moment before nodding.

Taking the cloth off of his face, she stood up and went to dump the water before she went to the kitchen, quickly turning back to him with a quick, “Are you hungry?”

“I can’t continue to impose upon you-,” he started before she quickly cut him off with a stern look.

“Unfortunately leaving is not an option with an injury like that,” she said as she pulled out some bread and butter, quickly fixing him the snack before walking back over and handing him the plate. He bit into the bread and couldn’t help but smile, he hadn’t had much in the past few days, he knew that. “I’m glad that tastes good,” the stranger said sitting back down on the stool beside him with another smile as he wolfed down the bread.

He coughed a little before looking back over to her and brushing off his hands, “I’m sorry, I’m horribly rude, let’s me introduce myself.”

She wove her hand and placed it on his shoulder, pushing him back down when he went to sit upright, hand going out for a handshake. “Like I said, you shouldn’t be moving. You’re really injured, you should be a bit more concerned,” she said softly, taking the empty plate from him and quickly washing it, putting it away in the cupboard.

“I’m just a bit confused as to how I am here, to be honest,” the man admitted as she went to tend to the fire.

She turned around and nodded, “I should explain, I’m sorry. You woke up after 8 hours and found yourself in a total stranger’s home, you should have questions.”

She sat back down on the stool and leaned forward, arms crossed as she leaned on her legs and continued speaking, “Earlier this morning I found you, unconscious out near the ridge.”

He stared at her blankly as she stared at him, raising her eyebrow, “You, you do know where you are, right?”

He sat there, a look of anguish growing on his face before he shook his head “no” once again. He looked up at her, quickly asking, “Where is the nearest town?”

She sat up a little, the confusion apparent on her face as she realized that he truly had no idea before continuing, trying to keep her voice calm and even, “You’re about five and a half miles from El Mensajero, you know, the town dominated by the Han family?”

‘Han’, he knew that name. He would never forget Jumin, his best friend he hadn’t talked to in months, ever since he had left that town.

He was home.

Nodding, he laughed a bit to himself before smiling at the woman, almost as if he was trying to comfort her, “I know of the town. I believe I was heading there, but I guess we have discovered a bit of a conundrum. I have no memory of why I was going there, or how I injured myself.”

“Or why my eyesight is even worse than it was yesterday,” he kept to himself.

Eyes widening, the woman immediately leaned in and looked into the man’s eyes, a look of determination on her face. “Then you really aren’t leaving for awhile then. At the very least til your head heals,” she said as she clenched her fist and slammed it into her other palm. “I know basic first aid, but I can get a doctor to check you out,” she paused before her voice trailed off, “Or at least, he knows all about being a doctor.”

“Knows how to be a doctor,” he muttered back, a slightly amused smile playing on his lips as she just shrugged.

“Everyone has secrets they want to keep. I think secrets make a person sick, makes them ill if they allow themselves to be consumed by it,” she said her eyes narrowing slightly. “But any human should feel compassion for another and want to help them in any way if they are in need,” she said, her voice becoming fierce, her willingness to go lengths to help others apparent to him, a man who felt nearly the same.

“Yes, everyone needs to be protected,” he nodded but now she shook her head.

“I think people are stronger than they let on and that they are more than capable of caring for themselves, not everyone needs protection, they just need someone to care and understand. To just listen,” she trailed off as she stood up quickly, a soft blush on her cheeks and she wove her hands. “Ah no, please forgive me, I went a little overboard there. Let me make dinner,” she said as she made her way back over to the kitchen yet again.

He stared at her back as she started to grab a pot and start to cut up some vegetables for a basic stew, a rabbit skinned beside her. He was impressed with how freely she spoke, how she didn’t seem to be hiding anything about herself, even though he was just a man she found passed out, easily dead if he had spent the day in the desert, under the sweltering sun.

It was cold though now that the sun had set and the wind starting to howl through the house. He watched her silently as he wracked his brain, trying to remember why he would even be heading back, and how he had never heard of the cabin on the outskirts of town. He knew he’d be gone for a few months, but he didn’t know the reason why and he couldn’t seem to remember, and it tore at him. He didn’t know how long he’d be lost in his thoughts before the woman came back and held out a bowl of stew towards him.

“Sorry that took so long, wasn’t expecting a guest,” she said with a smile, immediately beginning to eat the stew as he stared at her, completely silent again.

She paused and looked at him, quietly asking, “Do you think your stomach isn’t ready for this?”

He smiled sadly at her and she blinked, a little taken aback by the despair she saw in his eyes for a fleeting moment. “Oh no,” he sighed, looking at her with a kind eye, “I’m just truly grateful you would care for a stranger, with no idea who he was.”

She laughed before taking a bite of her stew before smiling at him, “I’m not cruel enough to leave a man for dead in the desert. And if you’re so concerned about being strangers, let me actually introduce myself.”

She put her bowl on her lap before smiling as she bowed her head, “I’m _________, it’s nice of meet you.”

He paused before bowing his head back to her, “I’m V.”

She smiled gently before pointing back to his stew, quickly declaring, “Alright then, V! You’re going to eat your dinner and then go back to sleep. You have to rest if you have any hope of getting better.”

V looked at her as she ate her dinner before he brought the spoon up to his lips and smirked before he took a bite. “I deserve this injury, I know that,” he thought to himself as he smiled at the stew, genuinely touched by this woman’s kindness, but still plagued by a looming sense of duty and guilt.

What had happened?


	2. Chapter 2

Golden hair.   
Green Eyes.   
Hands reaching out for him.   
The woman was standing directly in front of the sun as he kneeled before her, illuminated from behind and casting a long shadow that covered V, but if you had asked him he would have said he was standing in the light, the brightest light of them all before she would reach directly for his throat.

He slowly woke up, staring directly above at the ceiling as he let out a long sigh, remembering everything that had led to this moment. He had been searching for his sun, doing anything he could to get her to come home, to never leave him again.

To make sure no one else would be hurt by her.

 

He rubbed his eyes as he slowly made his way to stand up, still feeling a little groggy, and definitely overwhelmed by the immediate recollection of everything after just one night of care, save for why he had found her here of all places. ______ had been adamant that he take the bed that night, immediately putting him back to rest barely two hours after he’d been awake. He had fallen asleep just as quickly, exhausted from the past few hours.

Walking out, he found the house empty again, a bowl of porridge sitting on the table still warm. The poor man, he wasn’t just going to eat it without confirming it was for him, so he walked past the easels again, averting his eyes before he stepped out to be greeted by the harsh Arizona sun. Standing on the porch, he was taken aback by the sheer beauty of the land before him. He had lived in this region for years, but for the first time everything looked welcoming, and warm. The sun was still rising, and the cacti beyond her fence and the hills that she lived between were stunning, and for the first time in a while he felt like he was seeing everything clearly.

He heard a loud whack and walked to the edge of the porch to see ________ chopping some wood with accurate and steady blows. He watched her finish up and when she went to start to gather the wood he spoke up, “Wait, let me take care of that, it’s the least I can do!”

She laughed as she looked up at him, smiling at the dangerously polite man she was housing. “I told you no moving! Doctor’s orders!” She shouted back as he started to walk over.

He shook his head and knelt down beside her, slowly grabbing at the wood, not trying to give away the fact that he was already losing his sight at this age. She huffed as she wrapped it up so she could carry it without worrying about any slipping before handing V a small piece that she had left to the side. She smiled wryly at him quickly quipping, “I knew you would insist on carrying it for me, so here’s a compromise. You’re still on bed rest.”

He laughed, and if he had looked her way he would have seen her cheeks reddening ever so slightly as she gazed up at the man beside her. His smile carefree, truly looking at ease for the first time since she had found him. She laughed as they stood up and made their way back to the cabin, quickly adding some to the fire before she saw the porridge and went to heat it back up.

V took the bowl from her hand as she went past him and immediately began eating it, sitting down with a little stumble before nodding appreciatively, “This is wonderful, thank you. I didn’t want to eat it if it was yours.”

______ looked at him with a soft smile, “Well, for the next few days assume that if I’m not in here and there’s food on the table that it’s for you.”

She grabbed some water and sat across from him as she slowly drank it, looking at him appraisingly before quietly speaking, “Anything new compared to yesterday?”

He wasn’t going to tell her anything about his reasons for being out there, how he had gotten too close to the sun and burned and fell, and as she looked at him, expectantly waiting some response he just sighed and looked down at his porridge, muttering into his spoon, “I do know I was going to El Mensajero, or at least, had plans to stop in the town- not for long though.”

“Hmm…” ______ sighed, resting her head in her hands as she leaned on her knees, a pensive look on her face. “It’s a decent size town, after all, Han Mining is based there, but I don’t like living in those conditions,” she said honestly, her eyes looking beyond him and at the easels over his shoulder.

“Those conditions?” V asked, confusion across his face. Ever since his family immigrated to the town from the East Coast he had found the town quite adequate. Sure, there were issues with alcoholism and poverty in some families, but overall it was great center of business.

______ looked up at V and chuckled lightly, “Well, I moved here to get away from that lifestyle. This is my home now, and I’m happy to be as far as I am from the town, it’s freeing.”

“ _Freeing._ ”

That word stuck out to V, causing him to start wondering if he would ever experience that feeling in his life. If anything would give him so much peace. He quickly went back to eating his porridge as ________ watched the man with oddly colored hair, a color she hadn’t seen out in this area in a while, not since the Jumin Han had bought a piece of turquoise from the Kingman Turquoise Mine for himself. She had been in town that day searching for a paint brush when she saw him at the bank, pulling it out and showing it to his secretary, Jaehee, before getting into his carriage and ordering his driver, Kim, to bring him back to his home, the famed mansion in the hills.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, she clasped her cheeks as she realized that she was definitely blushing as she stared at him, him once again unaware of it as she quickly stood up.

She _really_ wanted to paint his hair.

It was absolutely mesmerizing and she wished to capture the vivid blue, but she turned away to fill her canteen with water, tying her hair into a braid and tossing it over her shoulder. Grabbing a saddle bag urgently she began to walk towards the door before she turned and smiled at V. “I’m off to see if my friend will take a look at you,” she started, before V panicked when he realized he had no idea who she was bringing. He couldn’t stand the though of it being someone who knew him and he shot right up, a tense look of his face.

“Who are you going to see?” He asked, looking directly into her eyes, his voice a little more strained than before.

Something was going on with him, she knew that. _______’s concern only grew and she knew he needed some care for a few days to calm his mind, to try and free himself from his secrets. Or at the very least, help him remember why he was in this area to begin with. She continued to walk to the door, waving him off as she grabbed the door knob before turning to him with an amused smile playing on her lips.

“I highly doubt you would know of him and him of you. He helped me build this cabin and works as my middle man in a way, selling my art for me, and he’s the best physician I know out here,” she trailed off before chuckling and awkwardly admitting, “That wasn’t the best pitch I know, but he’s really the best, I promise. I’ll be back in around 5 hours, he’s decently far from here.”

She pulled her key out as she stood in the doorway, looking at the still upright V, his shoulders relaxing slowly. “I have books, if you’re hungry there’s some food, water, and you can rest again. Don’t strain yourself, ok?”

He nodded and she closed the door, locking it and quickly trotting off on her horse. He sat back down on the couch and held his head in his hands, trying to wrack his brain to remember what she had said to him before he blacked out, what exactly she had done.

Rika, his one true love, the light that shone down on him.

His head began to throb as he started to think of it and he sighed. Maybe have a “doctor” would be good, maybe he could guilt him into a Hippocratic Oath of sorts. He needed to know if his eye sight had really worsened.

Hours later _________ returned with an incredibly annoyed man, quickly sighing when she brought him in, looking at her as if she was crazy for even having him hear. His name was Vanderwood, and apparently _______ and him had run into each other by chance when they both we going into town, arriving at the same time. They were both outsiders, quickly appearing in town to town, never noticed and never bothered. Vanderwood would go even farther, sometimes disappearing for a month or more if he decided to go do business in other towns.

V couldn’t pinpoint exactly what Vanderwood’s procession was, but he wasn’t about to question the man giving him exceptional, medical care. _________ was working in the corner of the room, rummaging through several canvasses and bringing them outside and placing them around the porch. She stepped outside and closed the door, beginning to rearrange the paintings with a fervent look in her eyes.   
When the door closed, Vanderwood immediately started talking, not holding back any punches as he talked to his patient, “Who are you?”

V paused, knowing that this man wasn’t going to take any lies from him before he spoke, “I’m V. I’m a photographer, been traveling around these parts for the past few months.”

Vanderwood continued to look at him, unconvinced. Just as forward, he asked, “What would cause a photographer to just pass out in the middle of the desert, his horse and any identifying materials gone?”

Taking a sharp inhale of breath, V felt a pang of guilt for hiding anything from these people who were caring for him, but he wouldn’t budge. “I wish I could remember,” he said through gritted teeth.

Looking at him, Vanderwood shrugged, pulling his hair back as he leaned in and stared V straight on. With a menacing whisper he said, “If anything happens to __________, I’ll know it was you. She’s been out here 2 years and hasn’t been bothered, she’s been able to make it out here on her own longer than anyone expected. It allows her anonymity and the ability to work, and I rely on that work to keep afloat.”

V looked at the other man, realizing that he was just trying to protect her in his own way. Someone else out there knew that there was something special about her, and even though he did make it seem it was pure business, V knew there was more.

“I have no intention of doing anything to _________, or anything to put her in harm’s way,” he said resolutely, looking back at the brown haired man.

Vanderwood continued to gaze directly at V before he leaned in, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the stranger before him.

“You’re going blind,” he whispered again.

V pulled back, immediately surprised that the man could realize that after a short examination. At this point he knew he couldn’t hide. “My eye sight was worsening before this head injury, but it’s worsened since,” he muttered back, a self deprecating smile on his face.

Vanderwood looked off, annoyance blatantly across his face. “And you were going to hide this?” He said with an exasperated look, watching the man with the weird hair nod in response. He ran a gloved hand through his hair as he leaned in, taking a closer look into his eyes and rapidly asking questions about it, and about how well he could see. After another couple of minutes he pulled back, quickly launching into his diagnosis. Traumatic injury to the head causing some sort of injury that affected his eyesight. They’d have to wait about two weeks to see if his eyesight would improve, and he shouldn’t dare think about going off if he was this injured.

The two men ended up staring each other down before V finally spoke, “I can’t be here that long.”

Vanderwood grimaced, his annoyance now moving into disbelief at the stubbornness of this man. “I’m not one to usually get this involved, but _________ is putting herself at risk housing you if you don’t know your how you ended up here. What’s worse is that she’s just as stubborn as you are, and she won’t let you leave until she knows your healed. Trust me, I know.”

Standing up, he walked to the front door and threw it open before slamming it shut and turning towards _________, looking at her with incredulously as he spoke, “You’re really gonna watch over him, huh?”

She smiled as she looked through the window and nodded back at Vanderwood with that same confident look. “Yes I am! He is in no shape to move, especially in this terrain. We still have to find his horse too!” She reasoned as Vanderwood rolled his eyes.

“Alright, I know you know how to handle yourself too, just stay safe,” he said as he turned to the paintings she had laid out, his reward for coming out here on such short notice. He looked at the paintings but thought of other things, of the weird man resting right now in his friend’s cabin, his memory loss, and his refusal to share the fact that he was going blind. He wanted to tell her, but he sighed, quickly picking one before moving towards his horse.

“If anything happens, call for me, I’ll be back in 3 days,” he said as she smiled back, arms crossed as he rode off, giving him a wave goodbye before she walked started to move her other paintings back inside.

After rearranging them quickly, she looked over to V, a casual, “Think you can rest here for that long?”

Looking back at her, a kind, compassionate smile fallen upon him, he smiled ever so sadly and nodded.

“I can do that.”


End file.
